Plow safety hitch



Jan. 2, 1923. 1,440,780

A. B. HULSEBOS ET AL.

PLOW SAFETY HITCH. v FILED APR. 29. 1921. 2 snee'rs-snss'r 1 17 21 W18. 'MQMUMO vs @33 attozuor a 2 sHEE'rS-s EET'Z mmnm avwmboz 8 Patented Jan. 2, 1923.

1,440,780 A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT 13. 3111812805 AND GERRI'I DEN BESTEN, OE HOLLAND, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS T0 SAFETY RELEASE CLEVIS 00., 0F HOLLAND, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

PLOW SAFETY 'HITCH.

To all whom-1'2 may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBERT B. HULSEBOS and Gmuu'r DEN BESTEN, citizens of the l mited States. residing at Holland, county of Ottawa, and State of Michi n, have invented certain new and use 1 Improvements in Plow Safety Hitches, of which the I.

. is adapted to engage a shoulder 9 cast or following is a specification.

Our invention relates to that class of devices which are designed to connect a source of power such as a tractor or horses to a plow or other agricultural implement, and which is described in my co-pending application Serial No. 433,974, in which device the hook which connects the clevis of the tractor or plow is engaged by a latch and when the plow strikes a stone or a stump'or similar obstruction, the latch which holds the hook ields, being held in place by a spring, and the hook is released.

In the said application means are provlded to hold the latch in position for re-engagement but no means are provided to ease the friction between the arm of the hook and the latch. and this friction is considerable.

Our present invention has for its object to provide means which will not only holdthe latch in position for re-engagement, but which will materially. expedite the movement of the latch in the releasing of the arm of the hook, thereby greatly decreasing the friction caused by the engagement of the hook arm with the latch.

Our means of accomplishing the foregoing objects may be more readily understood by having reference to the accompanying drawings which are hereunto annexed and are a part of this specification, in which Fig. 1 is a top or plan view of our improvement.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2--2 in Fig. 4.

Fig. 3 is a front end elevation.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of our improvement, the position of the latch being indicated in dotted lines when the book has been released.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the entire description.

As shown in the drawings, the dew lee comprises a main body portion 1 which is formed 3 and 4 which are in spaced relation to each with two laterally extending arms other. A bolt 5 is mounted in one end of the arm and extends through, being held in posi-.

tion by means of a nut 6. This bolt forms a plvot upon which swings the hook 7 which is adapted to engage the clevis of the tractor (not shown). Y

The hook 7 is provided with a stop 8 which formed upon the main body portion. This stop serves to prevent the hook swinging so far that it could not easily be re-engaged for the purpose of recoupling the device. The arm 4 is provided with an outwardly extending lug 10 which is adapted to insure the arm 11 of the hook 7 swinging backinto the correct position to engage the latch 12. The latch 12 is mounted in a slot 13 formed in the other end of the body portion 1 and 18 provided with a detent 14 which engages the arm 11 of the hook 7.

i In practice it is founddes-irable to have the walls of the slot 13 diverge slightly at their outer end to insure the latch entering freely therein after the hook has been released and when the hitch is to be re-enaged. A

The latch 12 swings upon a pivot 15 which is a portion of a hook 16 on the end of a bolt 17 which is mounted and slidable in a wall 18 which connects the body portion 1 at one of its extremities. This bolt is provided with a threaded portion 19 at its outer end upon which is mounted a nut 20. Intermediate the nut 20 and a plate 21-, we mount a coil spring 22. Inasmuch as the latch 12 is carried by the bolt 17, it follows that the spring 22 regulates the amount of pull required to permit the hook 7 to open and release the tractor, as the hook is held in position by the engagement of the arm 11 with the detent 14.

The plate 21, as clearly seen in Fig. 5, com-- prises an upwardly extending portion 23 and. a downwardly extending portion 24. The upwardly extending portion 23 is formed with a hook 25 which is adapted to engage the end 26 of the latch 12. A fiat spring 27 is mounted upon the arm 3, being held in position by a bolt 28 and nut 29, or in any other suitable or convenient manner. This spring serves to push the latch into engagement with the hook 25 when the device is to be recoupled. Y

The downwardly extending portion or lug 24 of the plate 21 has an'opening therein through which extends a bolt 30. This bolt is provided with a hook 31a t one end which engages the latch 12 below its ivotal point; The otherend of the bolt 30 1s provided with athreaded portlon 32 upon which is mounted a nut 33. A coil spring 34 is mounted intermediate the nut and the downwardly depending lug 24. This spring serves to regulate the tension or pull exerted upon the'latch 12 through the medium of the hook 31.- A detent 35 is formed upon the lower end of the latch 12 so as tdprevent its swingin beyond the proper position in which the evice can be re-engaged or :re-. coupled.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that when the pull on the hook 7 exceeds the tension of the spring 22, that the latch 12 will move forwardly until its end 26 passes out of engagement with the hook 25, when the latch will fly into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

As previously stated, this operation would be attendant with considerable friction at 25 the point of engagement of the arm 11 with the detent- 14 of thelatch 12. We expedite this movement and relieve the friction to a great extent by means of the spring 34 on the bolt 30, as it exerts a constant tension which can be. increased to any desired point, tending to pull thehook upwardly and into the position shown in dotted lines. llhe result is that the. release of engagement between the arm 11 and the detent It is greatly expedited in this manner. serves to hold the latch 12 in the correct position for rte-engagement or recoupling after the release has taken place. Practice has shown that this construction tends to materially increase the efficiency of the'device.

Having described our invention what we regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic release comprising a main body portion, a hook pivotally attached thereto, spring actuated means to hold said hook in a closed position, which means releases at a predetermined pull, a hook bolt which engages said holding means below its.

lhe spring also pivot, adownwardly depeilding lug having an opening through which said bolt extends, a nut threaded on said bolt, and a coil spring mounted intermediate said nut and'said lug,

beam and hook being in line, an arm on said hook, a latch engaged by said arm, a spring which holds saidlatch normally closed, a

pivot for said latch at right angles to the first pivot, means to prevent the-tightening of the tensionof said spring from pulling the latch pivot back, a hook bolt which engages saidlatch below said pivot, a downwardly depending lug having an opening through which said bolt extends, a nut threaded on said bolt, and a coil spring intermediate said-nut and said lug.

3. An automatic release comprising a main casting having two-arms, a hook pivotally attached adjacent one end and inter-- mediate said arms, an arm formed on said hook extending therefrom at right angles to said pivot, there being a slot in said casting adjacent its other end, a latch which swings in said slot; a bolt slidably mounted in said casting, a loop on said bolt which forms a pivot for said latch, the axis of said pivot' being at right angles to the first-named pivot, a spring on said bolt, a nut to regulate its tension, a catch mounted intermediate the inner end of said spring and the casting, which catch engages the end of said latch when the hook arm is held thereby, a hook bolt which engages said latch below said 

